For US student pilots
Squawk codes: 1200, 7500, 7600, 7700
The transponder is the one radio instrument you set rather than speak, and the codes carry meaning whether or not anyone is talking to you. Four of them every pilot must know cold, and two habits, when to ident and how to change a code, keep you from sounding an alarm by accident.
Here are the codes, the words that go with them, and the AIM paragraph for each.
Transponder & squawk codes
- 1200
- VFR, unless ATC assigns a code. Altitude reporting on. [AIM 4-1-20 5 (a)]
- 7500
- Hijack. Never select it by accident — when changing codes, avoid passing through 7500, 7600 or 7700. [AIM 4-1-20 e]
- 7600
- Radio communications failure.
- 7700
- Emergency. Squawk it if you cannot immediately reach a facility. [AIM 6-3-2 a 2]
- Squawk (code)
- Set the code with altitude reporting. “Ident” — press the ident button, only when asked. “Squawk standby” — standby. “Squawk VFR” — 1200. [AIM 4-1-20 f]
Flight following & radar services for VFR
A radar facility will give a VFR aircraft traffic advisories, safety alerts, limited vectors and sequencing, workload permitting. Ask for it; it is not automatic. [AIM 4-1-15, 4-1-17, 4-1-18]
- The request
- Call sign, type, position, altitude, destination, “request VFR flight following”. Keep the first call short on a busy frequency and give details when asked. [AIM 4-1-18 a 3]
- Squawk and ident
- You will be assigned a code; read it back. Ident only when asked. [AIM 4-1-20 d]
- “Radar contact”
- You are identified; the controller may add your position and the altimeter — read back the altimeter.
- Monitor the frequency
- Stay on it; tell the controller before changing altitude or frequency. [AIM 4-1-15 b 2]
- Vectors are advisory
- “Suggested heading” — you remain responsible for VFR and for terrain. Read back a heading you are given. [AIM 4-1-17]
- Ending it
- Ask to terminate, or hear “radar service terminated, squawk VFR, frequency change approved” — acknowledge, then set 1200. [AIM 4-1-15 b 2]
Read a squawk back and ident when asked
TowerTalk's Exercise H works radar services at a real US airport: the squawk, the ident, radar contact and the traffic calls, with feedback written from the AIM.
Related
Study aid, written in our own words from the FAA Aeronautical Information Manual (Change 3, 7/9/26) and the Pilot/Controller Glossary, with paragraph references so you can check each point. Last reviewed September 9, 2026; awaiting review by a US flight instructor. It does not reproduce those documents and is not a substitute for them — always defer to the AIM, the current FAA publications, your instructor and your examiner. TowerTalk is not approved or endorsed by the FAA.